Are Bangs Right for You?

Bangs or no bangs, that is the question. Some of us struggle with whether or not we should wear bangs. We may grow them out, but then get tired of growing them out. So we cut them, or we have them cut. Then we get sick and tired of looking at ourselves with bangs and we vow never to have bangs again. And we start to grow them out….again. So if you’re at all like me and you can’t decide about your bangs, here are some ideas for you.

You should have bangs if:

You have a small forehead or a very low hair line. If your forehead is small because you have a low hairline, then bangs that start back towards the middle of your head and reach your eyebrows will actually make your forehead look longer and will help hide the fact that your hairline is very low. A side bang probably won’t do the trick, look for blunt or choppy bangs straight across your eyebrows.

You have a large forehead. If your forehead is very large, bangs that reach about the middle of your forehead will help it look smaller. You don’t need tons of bangs, just enough to visually cut across the length of your forehead.

You have lots of frown lines on your forehead. My dear school-teacher of a husband brags that you’ve arrived as a teacher when your brows furrow so much that you can hold a pencil between your eyebrows. If it were me, I would be running for the botox injections, but I digress. The point is, slightly long bangs can help hide those forehead wrinkles, making you look years younger. This is the most convincing argument for bangs, in my opinion, that is.

You could have bangs if:

Your face is somewhat round but you are willing to wear them as a sideswept bang, which exposes most of your forehead. A blunt bang will cut off your forehead, making your face look wider and rounder. A side bang will allow you to have some bangs without making you look like a little kid.

You have an oval shaped face. Therefore, you are perfect. You can do whatever you want. Ok, maybe not whatever you want, but you could wear bangs, or not. You could wear blunt bangs or side bangs, or even choppy, funky bangs. The choice is yours.

You have wavy hair. If your hair is wavy, you probably don’t want short little blunt bangs. Chances are, they would get curlier and stick out in all the wrong places. A long side bang would probably lay much nicer and be more flattering with your hair type.

You should avoid bangs if:

Your face is very round. Blunt bangs will just make it look shorter and wider, and you really don’t want to go there. You might be able to have a side bang, though.

You hate the idea of regular trims. Bangs take maintenance, so if you hate the idea of regular trims – every four to six weeks – then you probably don’t want to worry about your bangs getting too long and hanging in your face every day.

You have pretty curly hair. The curlier your hair, the more likely your bangs will spring up into short little curls that spike out in all the wrong directions. Your best bet here is to avoid having bangs at all.

You have a bad cowlick in your hairline where you bangs would be. If you have a harsh widows peak or some other cowlick in your front hairline, you probably need to avoid bangs. Otherwise, the cowlick will send those bangs in all sorts of crazy looking directions. Unless, of course, you like that thought. Then by all means, go for it!

If you’ve read through all these ideas and you still can’t decide if you want bangs or not, then I still have a suggestion for you. Jessica Simpson makes a terrific, nearly imperceptible clip in bang that you can try for just a small investment, and it doesn’t involve cutting your hair. Then, whenever the mood strikes you can have your bangs in any style you want…. or have no bangs at all.